


Sweet Dreams Aren't Made of This

by the_mad_hellcat



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Barry Whump, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, M/M, Sad with a Happy Ending, Team Flash is in denial, The Rogues (DCU) As Family, fey magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-23 19:35:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11996550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_mad_hellcat/pseuds/the_mad_hellcat
Summary: Barry is struggling with his feelings for Len, knowing that Team Flash will not support him at best or reject him at worst.  Unbeknownst to him, Barry befriends an out of town half-fey, Lillian,  who decides to help get he and Len together by putting him under the Snow White curse. Sadly, even with Lillian's insistence, they refuse to contact Snart so she takes matters into her own hands once again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any characters in the story, they all belong to those lucky bastards that hold the Copywrite, I am just borrowing them for a bit. I will put them back the way I found them. This is my first Coldflash story and the first time I have written since 2014 so please be gentle. Enjoy!

It had been a while since Lillian had seen a bright star, such as the man with the babyface that just walked into the coffeeshop.  The Etheric, a fey and spellsword, had gotten used to the dull energy of humans living mediocre lives, addicted to their technology. This man was not perfect, he carried a very heavy burden and his heart was hurting.  He looked as if he hadn’t slept well for at least a few weeks.  Normally she couldn’t care less for humans, except where it served her needs, but this one intrigued her.  She hadn’t had a good mystery in a while and since she had to be in town for a few more days on an errand for her mum she might as well make the most out of it.

She waited until the man had his coffee and walked past her before turning on her charisma, her voice enchanting the man to comply with her wishes.  “Please join me, I don’t bite unless you are into that sort of thing.”

The man turned and stared at her a moment, he was resisting her charisma instinctively without realizing it, but his world weariness allowed for Lillian to win.  He may not be so easy to manipulate in the future, good to know.  “Do I know you?” he asked.

“Probably not, I am new to this city but the universal sign of needing someone to talk to is the same in all nations.  My name is Lillian Winters, a transplant from Wales and free-lance writer” she offered him her hand to shake.

Shyly the man took her hand, “I am Barry Allen.  Welcome to Central City, I was born and raised here.”

“Good, always nice to know a local.”

He blushed, awe he was so cute.  No ring on his finger and no obvious signs of a girl- or boyfriend by the sloppy way he was dressed.  “So tell me, Barry Allen, why do you look as if someone kicked your kitten.”

“You know, the same old same old.”

“The person you love doesn’t love you back?”

“I don’t know if it’s love.  I mean I have never had dreams, much less those of a sexual nature, about a man before.  But he just keeps appearing with his annoying cold puns, sinfully sexy smirk that I just want to kiss away.”  Barry’s eyes got as wide as saucers, Lillian gently brushed his mind and saw an image of a grown man in a blue parka with goggles shooting what appeared to be an ice ray at the boy, the image melted into the same man without the ridiculous outfit, but in a leather jacket, tight fitting dark blue shirt and tight blue jeans.  Now that version of the man was definitely attractive.  Barry was drawn to his clear icy blue eyes and those smirking lips.  Oh yeah, Lillian saw the appeal of kissing the smirk off those lips.

“If Mr. Cold Puns was a Miss Cold Puns, would you have jumped her by now?”

“I don’t know.  I mean I don’t exactly have a stellar track record with relationships.”

“Who does?” she reached over and took Barry’s hand, “my last relationship ended with my then boyfriend pushing me off a train.  What a nosebag.”

“Oh my god, are you ok?”

 “Happened in Scotland a few months ago, I am fine.  He, on the other hand, not so much my brothers got ahold of him.”

 “Good,” Barry said, and Lillian just smiled sweeter, her thumb stroking the top of Barry’s hand, “you are a kind sort, aren’t you?”

 “Not really.”

 “Nah, Barry, you listen to me.  It sounds like you have it bad for this guy and believe it or not most people in this world are bisexual, shame keeps people from admitting it.  There ain’t nothing wrong with you, sweetie.  It’s finding the person whose broken pieces fit your broken pieces like a puzzle, someone you can be totally yourself around.  Why do I have this feeling you have been craving Mr. Cold Puns for sometime?”

 Barry ducked his head and blushed a beautiful scarlet red.  Awe, he was so adorable.  Lillian wanted to keep him.  She reached over and stroked his cheek, “Although, if you want to marathon sex him outta your system, let me know.  I am definitely game.”  It was possible for Barry to blush even deeper and this time it went down his neck and beneath his shirt.  How far down does that blush go?  “I was teasing now, Barry.”

 A sickeningly happy ringtone threatened to break the spell, he was a strong one, maybe one of those meta people?  “Oh no!  I have to go I am late to work!” Barry jumped up, “I am so sorry, Ms. Winters.”

 “Lillian please,” she pulled a business card with her American mobile number out of her pocket, “I will be in town until Friday.  If you care to show a girl a good time, give me a call.  I promise my brothers won’t box your ears.”

 Barry took the card and put it into his wallet, “Thanks, it was nice to meet you.”

 

 And Barry had called.  He had taken her lunch, the park and a few decent tourist attractions.  Thursday night he had even invited her over for dinner to meet his adopted father and sister.  The sister obviously had feelings for Barry, buried deep, but she wasn’t the one for him.  She recently lost her fiancée and she needed him to be all supportive, sweet and light.  She couldn’t handle the dark burden he carried, not even close and Barry needed someone who could take some of the weight off his shoulders when it became too much for him.  Now Mr. Cold Puns, he might do a decent job.  She had seen a rather comedic battle between Captain Cold and the Flash, where they danced around each other, trading blows without actually doing serious damage and shamelessly flirting.  It didn’t take a fay’s intuition to figure out that Barry Allen was the Flash, the image she gleamed where Mr. Cold Puns was shooting that ice gun at him was enough for her to put two and two together.

 Lillian was supposed to leave tomorrow evening, but it felt wrong to leave the situation as it was.  The sister would rope Barry into a relationship with her and she didn’t want that to happen to him.  It wasn’t fair.  She called her mum to explain she would be home a few days later than originally intended.  She flipped through terrible late night tv, trying to get some sort of inspiration and stumbled on some sci fi reboot of the Snow White story.  An evil grin went across Lillian’s face, the Snow White curse was perfect.  Unlike Sleeping Beauty, Snow White was trapped in the realm of nightmares, but it still was lifted with True Love’s First Kiss.  She could almost imagine the look on Cold Puns’ face, the torment and anger flashing in the depths of his icy blue eyes, at seeing Barry laying there in a never-ending nightmare.  It would bring out his super protective side.  She was pretty sure that Cold Puns was Barry’s true love, but if she was wrong then she could have her brother Liam lift it.  One of the positives of having a druid in the family.  Now all she needed was a damn apple.

 

Next morning, Lillian was supposed to meet Barry at their Jitters.  It was Friday, and the Flash had a very late night so she expected him to be running late and probably not have had any substantial breakfast.  He looked so world weary, the weight on his shoulders was physically causing his shoulders to slump.  She already ordered him a Flash coffee to go and a breakfast sandwich.  “Go, stupid,” she said, “you don’t want to be late and risk the wrath of your Captain, I swear he reminds me of my mum.”

 “What time does your plane leave?”

 “7:50PM.  I need to be at the airport at 6:30. I will give you a text before I board the plane.  Thanks for everything, Barry, you are one in a million.  I hope you find your happiness,” she kissed him lightly on the mouth, he tasted of peppermint and lightening, it was intoxicating, “and don’t be a stranger.  I will send you an email when I get home and let you know when I am state-side again.”

 “I would like that,” Barry had that cute lop-sided grin, “thanks for everything, Lillian.”

 He turned to leave and his stomach made a gurgling noise, “Hey, Barry, I think you need this more than me,” she handed him a beautiful red delicious apple, “it would be good to get some more fruit and veg into your diet as well.”

 Then he was gone.

 And now she waited.

 

 Barry got to the lab, only running about 5 minutes late and sat the coffee and food down on his desk, there was a ton of paperwork to get through.  Joe came up to see him just at 10am to check on the report for the James murder, when Barry finally came up for air.  He had eaten the sandwich with barely tasting it, but he was still hungry.  He smiled at the apple, Lillian was such a sweetheart.  He normally hated red delicious apples, but maybe she was right about his eating habits.  Even Snart had commented about living off fried foods the last time they had a little chat at Saints and Sinners. Snart.  Cold.  Dammit, he tried not to think about him today.  Lillian had really been a huge help working on his feelings for Len… Snart.  DAMMIT!  She had helped her brother Liam come out to their family so she was super supportive and it was great to have someone to just talk to without fear of them figuring out it was Snart then stage a huge group intervention.

 “There was trace amounts of some sedative in Mr. James’ blood, but it’s nothing like I have ever seen.  I have sent it to STAR Labs to try to get a better analysis of it,” Barry said as he picked up the apple.

 “You eating fruit?  Who are you and what have you done with Barry?” Joe joked.

 “Lillian gave it to me, said I needed to eat better.”

 “So you don’t listen to me, but you listen to a bossy Welsh lady, eh?  I see where I stand on the totem pole here,” Joe teased and Barry blushed slightly, and took a bite from the apple.  It was juicy, sweet but with just a hint of bitterness.  He felt a violent pull through his entire body, a gray wave of mist circling him.  He heard Joe, but he sounded so far off, not only a few feet away, “Hey, Barry, are you ok?”

 Barry swallowed the apple, “No… not real…” he said as he lost consciousness.

 

 An hour later Barry was at STAR labs, completely comatose.  The apple was being analyzed but so far found no trace of any poisons or anything to suggest the apple had anything to do with this condition.  Caitlin was putting Barry through a battery of tests and so far, everything came back normal.  The sleep was not restful, it was obvious that Barry was having severe nightmares.  He had even screamed out at one point.  Joe had gone to find Lillian at the hotel, and had found her fighting off an intruder, who escaped.  “He expected me to be asleep,” she explained as she hugged Joe.  She had picked up the apple this morning at the continental breakfast, red delicious apples were her favorite and there was one sitting on the top of the apple pile.  The other apples were bruised green apples and did not seem appealing so she picked it up on her way to meet Barry.

 Lillian shook violently and he took her to the labs for safe keeping.  She called her mum and told her what happened, and she was told to wait with Joe until her brother, Liam could come get her.  He was currently in Edinburgh finishing up a restoration on an old public house, but would be on a plane in 24 hours.  “He called me Snow White and wondered why the curse didn’t work?” Lillian cried.

 “It would make sense that this is magic,” Caitlin said, “all the tests are coming back normal.  There is no reason for his present condition.”

 “My family does deal in mystical supplies,” Lillian admitted quietly, “most of them herbs, oils, poppets, harmless on their own and my mum is a healer.”

 “Barry said you had a bad break up a few months ago, your ex pushed you off a train?” Joe asked.

 “What?” Caitlin and Cisco said in unison.

 “That sonovabtich!” Lillian said, “this would be something that the nosebag would do, but my brothers put the fear of the almighty into him after the incident then he was put in jail.”

 “So we are dealing with magic,” Caitlin sighed, “a little out of our depth.”

 “The Snow White cure is straightforward,” Lillian said, “it’s a nasty curse to be sure but curing it is rather simple.  True Love’s First Kiss.”

 Everyone stared at her, “Love is a cure for many of the nasty curses because it is so powerful,” she explained, “luckily for us we know who he loves so this curse should be broken in no time.”

 “I will go call Iris,” Joe said as he grabbed his cellphone.

 “You may want to call Len to,” Lillian said, “or Mr. Cold Puns as I like to call him.”

 The room went comically silent, Cisco, Caitlin and Joe were looking at each other totally confused.  “What are you talking about?” Cisco asked.

 “He told me about this guy he is crazy about,” Lillian said, “said he name was Len.”

 “Barry is bi,” Joe said, “but he hates Snart.  He is a thief, a murderer and a traitor.  He has betrayed Barry before and almost got him killed.”

 “The heart wants what it wants, Detective West, like it or not, you should get a hold of him somehow.”

 

 And four days later, no one had bothered to try to get ahold of Mr. Cold Puns and Liam was going to be here in 2 hours.  The only person more apt to being late than Barry was bloody Liam.  Lillian couldn’t believe how many people they had kiss Barry, there was Iris, a Linda, a Patty, a guy named Oliver (who reminded Lillian strongly of her Dad), a Sara, a Kendra and a Felicity.    Iris kissed him three times, just to make sure.  Girl just couldn’t take a hint.  Lillian noticed that Cisco was trying to secretly text on his phone and wondered who he was talking to.  Maybe he knew how to get a hold of Mr. Cold Puns because obviously nothing else was working.  The nightmares started to get more intense as time went on, Barry even screaming out in absolutely pain and terror every 45 minutes or so.  Lillian had started to feel bad, she didn’t want him in pain; the curse was supposed to have been broken before it got this bad but damn, these humans were stubborn.  No wonder he never told them about his cravings for Mr. Cold Puns, they might have staged a guilt-inducing intervention!

 “Cisco,” Lillian sat on the table he was sitting at, kicking her legs as her feet didn’t touch the ground, “dearest, baby, world’s sexist engineer, darling, you are so amazing that I know you can give me the information that I need, Cutie.”

 “Hmmm… don’t call me Cutie.”

 “Oh, why not?”

 “That’s what my girlfriend calls me.”

 “Oh, secret girlfriend.  You have more balls than I thought, good for you, darling!” Cisco gave her an annoyed look and she just giggled (he was so much fun to rile up), “now sweet’ums, don’t you think this has gone on long enough?  The curse is going to continue to get worse…”

 “It can get worse than this?”

 “That’s what mum said,” Lillian explained, “so don’t you think it’s time to stop being so thick and just give Mr. Cold Puns a call?  If it doesn’t work you can just tell me an ‘I told you so’ and be done with it.  It is rather foolish to not exhaust all of our options, I mean hell, Cisco-baby, half their ‘fights’ are just flirting with puns and sneaking looks at each other’s asses when they think the other isn’t looking.  Subtlety is not Barry’s strong point, sweet’ums!”

 “Ok, you have a point there, a point I have been actively ignoring so I can sleep at night!” Cisco sighed, “but even if Barry does like Cold, and refuses to let go that he has some good in him – Cold has betrayed Barry, tried to kill him and leads a group of villains that hate Barry.”

 “Sounds like my mum and dad’s courtship to me,” Lillian shrugged, “but that’s besides the point. I have a strange family, darling.  It shouldn’t be hard to set up a temporarily alliance, Cold Puns gives Barry a quick kiss on the lips then leaves.  Should take less than 15 minutes total and everyone can go back to hating each other… unless Barry wakes up and they go at it like rabbits so that may take a little more time.”

 “I am never going to sleep again.”

 “Have your girlfriend give you a hard rough and tumble before bed and you will sleep just fine!”

 “No, her brother will ice me!”

 Lillian blinked twice and barked out a laugh, getting the attention of everyone in the cortex, which Lillian just waved off. “So,” she whispered in his ear, “someone is dating Mr. Cold Puns sister.  How cute!”

 “Do. Not. Tell. Anyone.”

 “Someone else fears the group, guilt-trip intervention besides Barry,” she nodded and it was understandable.  Those were never fun, “then you should know how he feels.  Come on, Cisco-baby, just give a little text to your sweetheart, maybe include a little video of how bad Barry is and ask for a teeny-tiny favor.”

 “This is a bad idea.”

 “But we are swiftly running out of options,” she batted her eyes at him, “don’t make me call you Cutie again!”

 “It’s official, I am not going to survive this!” Cisco muttered, “cover for me.”

 “Gladly, sweet cheeks,” she gave him a peck on the cheek and went over to talk to Joe and Caitlin as Cisco disappeared into Barry’s room.  Oliver and his friends were out patrolling the city in Barry’s absence so they had time to pull this off.  If Cisco didn’t get cold feet… haha, now she was making cold puns.  This was fun. 

 

 About ten minutes later, Cisco came back from Barry’s room and looked down, shaking his head. Lillian walked over and wrapped an around Cisco’s shoulders, “Mission accomplished?”

 “Cold’s not coming.”

 “Oh, that is a shame,” Lillian sighed, “maybe you just weren’t persuasive enough, sweet’ums.  Did you send him a video of Barry tossing and turning, maybe include a scream?”

 “Of course not,” Cisco said, “Lisa doesn’t know Barry is the Flash!”

 “Do you have Cold Pun’s number?  No, of course you don’t, stupid question,” she sighed again, “turn around, go back in there and call her.  Let her hear how bad the Barry is, maybe she isn’t taking you seriously.”

 “I am telling you it isn’t going to work,” Cisco said.

 “Give me your bloody phone then, I will tell her I am holding her Cutie-pie hostage until her big bad brother comes to play.”

 “She will kill you!”

 “Then try again!”

 Joe called to Cisco, it appeared that Team Arrow needed his help with something.  Before he could move too far away, Lillian picked his phone out of his pocket then headed back to Barry’s room. She hacked his phone with a little magic and read the series of texts, it sounded more like a stupid trap then an actual call for help and Lisa sounded very upset.  Lillian went over to the bed, used magic to slightly blur Barry’s face and recorded him tossing, turning, crying out, begging for someone to stop and finally screaming ‘NO’ at the top of his lungs.  It was terrifying, heartbreaking and should do the trick.  She saved the video and sent it to Lisa.

  

Lisa stood in-between Len and Mick as they were going over plans for the next heist, Mr. Rathaway just came into possession of a very expensive rare wine collection and stepped on more than a few toes to do it.  There were rumors that if anyone could liberate a few bottles, or better yet the entire thing that there were buyers willing to pay top dollar for the goods.  And Len did love to make the Rathaways suffer for their treatment of Hartley, he always did just a little extra property damage and sometimes the Flash would even help a little bit on that front.

 Lisa was trying to ignore her phone as it kept buzzing in her pocket, and was more than a little annoyed at Cisco’s behavior.  He had called off a date and four booty calls but couldn’t tell her why.  She knew it was Team Flash business, she respected that and he respected Rogue business, but it still hurt.  Now he was saying he needed her brother’s help but wouldn’t say why.  If she didn’t know he was too sweet and loyal to double cross her she would have sworn up and down it was a trap.  Lisa also noticed a lack of Flash sightings over the past four days so something was going on.  Her phone kept going off in her pocket and she ignored it.  Len on the other hand, didn’t.  “Will you turn your phone off, I am sure your latest conquest can wait for another two hours.”

 “Maybe I am trying to find out where the Flash is,” Lisa snarked back, taking her cellphone out of her pocket and pretending to look at it.

 “Then please, share with the class,” Len snatched Lisa’s phone from her, typed in the code and pulled up her messages.  Dammit, how did Len already know her passcode, she changed that thing daily! She tried to get it back, but Len just dodged her attempts.  She was pretty sure that Len knew about her involvement with Cisco, she did liberate a piece of tech or two and got the Gold Gun upgraded, but she didn’t want to confirm any suspicions. “Although if I see a dick pic,” Len started to say as he touched the screen and a terrible noise came from her phone and her brother’s eyes widened just slightly. 

 “What is it?” Roy Bivolo asked.

 “Whoever it is doesn’t sound good,” Axel said.

 There was a sick sound of begging over the phone, “Oh my god, is someone being tortured?” Shawna asked.

 A few tense moments Lisa and the Rogues listened to the video until a scream ripped through the room, causing even Mick and Mark Mardon to flinch then the video must have ended.  Her brother’s face did not change expression but she could tell whatever was on that video was bad.  “What was that?” Shawna asked, “was that the Flash?”

 Len was scrolling down, reading the texts, which would tell him nothing about the video.  It was an awkward silence, no one really knew what to say, they didn’t like him, but no one deserved whatever the hell was on that video.  Len handed Lisa back her phone, “Call and find out what in the hell that was.  Do. Not. Watch. It.”

 “Now that you don’t have to worry about,” Lisa said as he immediately called Cisco and walked out of the room.

 

 Cisco’s phone buzzed in Lillian’s hand, the caller ID said ‘Cutie’ and Lillian grinned.  Excellent!  She walked out of Barry’s room and went over to Cisco, “You dropped your phone, Cutie!”

 “I told you,” his eyes widened at the screen as he snatched the phone back, Lillian whispered in his ear, “You better answer it, angelface.”

 Cisco answered the phone and walked away from the console, answering his phone as he went.  Whatever he was needed for was long since done, thank god.  Now it was time to work on the Doc and Joe.  “Look, we all know that Barry is just getting worse,” Lillian argued.

 “Lillian, I am telling you,” Joe snapped at her, he was tired and frustrated, but also possible scared to death that she was correct, “it’s not Snart.”

 “Why not try him?  You’ve tried everyone else, save his favorite porno stars!”

 Caitlin blushed, “I didn’t need that image.”

 Cisco rushed back in the room and squealed “You sent her a video!”

 “Who?” Joe asked.

 “Yes, Cisco, to whom did I send a video?” Lillian asked.

 “Fine, then you explain it to her!” Cisco shoved the phone into Lillian’s hands, and she answered, “Hello?”

 “Who are you and what was that?”

 “I am none of your business and that was someone under the influence of the Snow White curse, a curse that traps someone in their worst nightmares unable to wake until true love’s first kiss.”

 “What!?”

 “Who is she talking to?” Joe asked at the same time Caitlin asked, “What’s happening?”

 “I know, so cliché, right but extremely powerful. Before you ask, I had nothing to do with it.  The curse was meant for me, but he got it instead.”

 “You have got to be kidding me,” this Lisa said, “so why contact me, what can my brother do to help?  Find a counter curse or whatever?  Need something stolen?”

 “ _Oh my god, what is wrong with you people?_ ” Lillian groaned in Gaelic before replying in English, “I already told you how to cure it so think about it a minute. Don’t strain yourself though.”

 “How dare you… wait, are you saying that Lenny is the one to break the curse?  Are you out of your mind?”

 Lillian decided that all these bastards were completely useless and that she was taking Barry home with her!  Mum would think he was cute and Liam, Dylan, Maddox and March would just love him.  Barry could have a small harem of her brothers, he would love it!  “Nevermind, obviously everyone else is totally ridiculous and I will just have to handle this myself,” she hung up on Lisa and drained the battery in Cisco’s phone.  “So be it, I am going to go pick up me brother, he will have what is needed to break the curse then I will take him to mum and have her nurse him back to health.”

“Whoa, wait, what?” Cisco said.

“You never mentioned this to us before!” Caitlin said.

“Because the curse was supposed to be broken the right way, the way the curse was intended to be broken, but no everyone is too stubborn or in denial to deal with what is right in front of their faces, so it’s no wonder Barry never mentioned he was in love with Len because he was afraid of everyone going batshit crazy.  Breaking the curse, any other way will result in the curse lingering until each individual part is carefully removed, think of it like shrapnel.  He will have to have master spellcaster, like mum, to completely revive him, only Liam can do so much.”

“Why can’t your mom come here?”

“She cannot leave home, she has too much to do and other patients to care for,” Lillian said, “unless you know another spellcaster that will do this for him. Normally this is an expensive removal, but since the curse was meant for me, mum said she would remove it for free.”

“You lied to us!” Joe shouted as he went to grab her, but she flipped him over like a wet noddle.  “No, I didn’t lie to you, I just didn’t think it needed to be mentioned because the answer was right in front of you.  You have two options, Len or Barry going to Wales under my mum’s care.  That’s it.  Make your decision now!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len finally arrives like a White Knight... *ducks cold gun blast* I mean Len arrives to break the curse, but what are the ramifications of spending so much time in the realm of nightmares for Barry?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your support! I am posting Chapter 2 early because I have two dear friends who need a little love and mindless entertainment. Sending tons of love to everyone in the path of Hurricane Irma, be safe. <3

Lillian was thrown out of Star Labs and was sitting outside waiting for Liam to come to get her, Team Flash decided to handle this by themselves (because they were doing such a bloody wonderful good job already).  Seems this Oliver guy had some connections with the magic community, good luck with that.  She had another 90 minutes before Liam’s plane touched down when she saw a pair of motorcycles pull up, and she recognized Mr. Cold Puns immediately, the woman with him must have been his sister, Lisa.  They had their guns pulled out and trained on her before even getting off their bikes. “Don’t you dare blame me for this clusterfuck!” she raised her hands in the air, “apart from one nerdy engineer, everyone else in there is totally worthless!”

 “Maybe, but all this keeps coming back to you.”

 “I have no idea who is after me, I wish I did because I would just take care of it and leave what is left over to Team Flash although they might just bandage the bastard up and throw him in a jail cell for him to escape from in a few weeks then take real vengeance.”

Cold Puns just looked Lillian over, tilting his head slightly and gave her a tiny nod, “Point taken.”

“Look, the guy was just looking for someone to actually talk to where he didn’t have to worry about being judged, lectured or just outright rejected.  That’s a big fear of his and by the way, those in there were acting, his fears were based in reality.  The way he spoke about you, I know only you can wake him up and if you didn’t give at least somewhat of a damn about him, you wouldn’t be here either.”

“Maybe things will be boring without him?”

 “Maybe.  Or maybe no one else will have the balls to look past your frosty exterior and actually see you.”

 “Punning with me now?” Cold Puns raised an eyebrow.

 “It seems to be the best way to communicate with you.”

 “Point,” he used the gun to gesture to the door, “come on let’s go.”

 Lillian stood up, hands still raised as she walked back toward the Cortex but slowed down when they got close to the turn to take them to medical.  “Keep going straight,” Cold Puns ordered his voice even.

 “If you make the right up ahead you will go straight to medical aka right to him.  Keep going straight then you will end up at the Cortex and deal with that mess.  Team Arrow is in town covering for the Flash.  Why make it more difficult?  The longer it takes the more he suffers and he is suffering. A lot.”

 “You expect me to trust you,” he said, but before he could finish his probably creative threat, Barry screamed again.  The sound echoed down the right hallway. Now Lillian knew she couldn’t turn around to see the look on his face, but his energy gave away more than his face probably would have.  Pain. Cold rage. Frustration. Thirst for unholy vengeance for whoever did this to Barry. She could almost feel the tightness in his chest and how the pressure increased almost painfully when he heard Barry scream, he appeared to be possessive, but he was uber-protective to anyone who anyone he considered his, the ultimate alpha male who valued brains over brawn. “Show me,” he shoved her lightly with the tip of his gun.  Man, that was cold, fucker.

 Lillian obeyed and led them directly to Barry, she peeked her head in, signaling to them to stay back.  “Coast is clear,” she said as she gestured to Cold Puns to enter the room, “I have fifteen siblings, I am used to sneaking around.  I will keep an eye out for the Anti-Len League and let you know if someone is coming.”  She turned to leave then turned back, “That being said, if you do anything to hurt that beautiful, sweetheart of a bright spark, I may not look like it, but I can kick your ass before you can even think of pulling the trigger of your gun and then I will lay waste to all you hold dear before I kill you.  Slowly.  Then I will have my brother, March, a necromancer, bring you back from the dead so I can do it again and again until I have deemed you sufficiently punished.”

  

Len blinked twice as he watched the strange woman leave, even though logically her threat made no sense, he sensed that it was valid.  He was about to give her a witty retort when he heard Barry cry out.  He would deal with her later, instead, he walked over to the bed.  “Stay outside,” he told Lisa when she peeked her head in.

 “Oh come on…”

 “No, I will keep my promise,” he said, anyway he didn’t want anyone to see Barry like this, not even his sister.  He looked so vulnerable, and in so much pain that Len could hardly stomach it, “stand guard in case someone gets around Mighty Mouse.”

 “I might have to tell the girl you called her that,” Lisa snickered as she turned her back to the room.

 Len walked over to the bed, Barry was tossing and turning so much he wasn’t sure how he could even give him a kiss.  He didn’t want to hold him down, that brought up bad memories that Snart didn’t want to deal with right now.  “Shhhh, calm down, it’s going to be ok,” he said in a soft voice.  He reached down and took Barry’s hand, running his thumb gently over the top, careful not to touch the IV, and as soon as they touched Barry stopped struggling.  His face, twisted up in pain and terror, slowly softened until he looked like he was sleeping peacefully, the tossing also stopped.  He stilled completely, Len looked at the monitors.  While he wasn’t a doctor, he understood heart rate and blood pressure and they were returning to normal numbers.  “Hurry up, Lenny,” Lisa said, “Caitlin is going to wonder why his vitals are changing and come check on him.”

 “How could you possibly know the dear doctor’s name?  Oh yeah, almost forgot you are dating Cisco,” he said with a mild sarcastic tilt to his voice.  He could feel her glare burn a hole in the back of his head.  He would lie if he wouldn’t admit he had thought about kissing Barry before, that he was masturbation fodder for him on a regular basis, but this was something different. This was love and Len didn’t think he loved Barry or that Barry could love him.  He was almost 45, Barry’s archenemy, hurt those closest to him, betrayed him almost every time they worked together and he was a guy.  Barry never seemed interested in men. If only Barry was even remotely interested, he could take him back to his safe house with the California king, silk sheets and teach him the pleasures of being with a man, of being with him. How good he would make it for Barry, how he would ruin Barry for anyone else, even Iris.  Wait, Iris.  Didn’t she kiss Barry? Wait what?! The wave of jealousy tempered with a hope that hit him so fast that it made him feel nauseous.  Holy shit.

 “Lenny, hurry your ass up.  This is not breaking into Fort Knox, this is a simple kiss and go, you don’t have to plan for every single contingency,” Lisa hissed at him.

 Len carefully leaned forward, making sure not to let go of Barry’s hand as he reached to kiss him softly as if he was afraid to accidentally break Barry.  He pulled back about a foot, he expected to see nothing happen, but Barry’s eye fluttered open, melting the tightness that had been in Len’s chest since he saw the video.  Suddenly, the world spun around him a moment then Len found himself sitting on the bed, with a lap full of sobbing speedster holding on to him for dear life.  He could make out about every three words. Len was terrible with tears but didn’t exactly want to let Barry go either.  “Lenny, for god sake!” Lisa sighed as he held Barry tightly.

 “Lisa,” Barry turned to look at her, his voice raw and rough from the screaming, “you are ok?”

 “Of course,” she grinned.

 “Lisa, I… saw you die… in horrible ways… Cisco tried to save you every single time but he died to… and… the rest of the Rogues… Caitlin… Team Arrow… I couldn’t get there fast enough... to save them. Over and over again. I am so sorry,” a fresh wave of sobs cut off Barry’s ability to talk.  Len just held him.  He was a bit shocked, that not being able to save the Rogues bothered Barry.  He knew that Barry had been pulling his punches with the Rogues, but he assumed that was just part of the arrangement.  Did he actually care about them?  Of course, he would, he is Barry Fucking Allen after all. The kid was too good for this world and far too good for whatever monster gave him that curse and that monster would pay for doing this to his precious Barry.

 “They are safe,” Len whispered in his ear, “everyone is safe. It’s all going to be ok.  You were trapped in a nightmare world by a curse, none of it was real, Barry.”

 Lisa looked equally surprised, and sat down next to Len, slowly she removed the IV before Barry ripped it out and wouldn’t that just be a mess before she raised her hand and rubbed small circles between Barry’s shoulder blades, “Len is right; everyone is fine.”

 “No,” Barry argued, “what good is my speed if I cannot save those I care about if I cannot save you, Len! God, I couldn’t handle it if something happened to you.”

 The sentiment warmed Len’s heart and he held Barry just a little bit tighter, “I am here. Shhhh… just breathe, Barry, it’s over now.  Breathe in… Breathe out… shhh.”

 “That’s it, Flash, you are doing great,” Lisa smiled, “just listen to Lenny.”

 Barry nodded as Len’s voice soften, almost having a hypnotic quality to it, as he gently told Barry to breathe in and out until the sobbing stopped.  His internal clock screamed at him, it had been too long here without a member of Team Flash coming to check on Barry.  Didn’t they even realize he was awake or was Snow not paying attention to her tablet?  This wasn’t adding up.  Although he was grateful to be able to have this time to comfort Barry, as bizarre as it was, he was angry that his Team wasn’t here to take care of him.  What would have happened if he followed Lisa’s advice and did a kiss and run? He may have to refamiliarize Team Flash with the business end of his cold gun before this was all over.

 He could see by the look on Lisa’s face that she was having similar thoughts. Cisco might be sleeping on the metaphorical couch for a while.  Barry pulled back, it was not a pretty sight, his eyes were red, tear stains down his cheek and his nose a snotty mess (note to Len to change his shirt as soon as he got back to the safehouse), and yet he had never seen Barry look more beautiful in his life. A knock on the door startled Len, causing him to hold Barry tight to his chest, his hand instinctively grabbing for the cold gun and pointing it at the door. It was Mighty Mouse, with a rather baffled Cisco, “Dude you are awake!” Cisco snapped out of his stupor and looked as if he wanted to rush Barry but the woman stopped him, “Cool it, sweet’ums, Barry is super sensitive right now and can be over stimulated very easily.”

 “Did. You. Just. Call. Him. Sweet’ums?” Lisa asked far too calmly for it to be anything good.

 “He is too much of a marshmallow fluff to not have sickening sweet pet names,” she argued, “and he said that ‘cutie’ was out.  He reserves that one for his…”

 “And I would like not to explain cold or gold blasts in this room,” Cisco got in the middle of them, and shook Mighty Mouse’s hand off his lower arm, “please don’t kill me.”

 “You are fine,” Lisa said, “jury is still out on Mighty Mouse over here.”

 “Mighty Mouse?  Seriously.”

 “You are the one that likes pet names.”

 “Enough,” Len said quietly, the hard edge back to his voice, “where are the others?  Why hasn’t anyone else come in to check on Barry?”

 Barry snuggled even more into Len’s embrace, making very soft, cute little sounds.  It struck Len that Barry was trying to comfort him. What the fuck?  He didn’t need to be comforted, Barry needed to be comforted.  That didn’t mean that his heart didn’t flutter for just a second at the thought though.  “No alerts or anything went off in the cortex that Barry’s vitals changed,” Cisco said, “I went to walk back to my lab and caught Mighty Mouse…” she punched him hard in the shoulder “ouch!... in the hallway and asked her what she was doing back in the lab.  She told me what happened.  I was worried about what might happen…”

 “His eyes went all cinnamon roll - puppy when he heard your sister was also here,” she said, Cisco glared at her, “that’s what you get for calling me Mighty Mouse, asshat!”

 “Caitlin is due to come check on Barry soon so you might want to get going,” Cisco said.

 “No!” Barry shook his head violently and started to tremble, “they can’t leave.”

 “They aren’t safe here,” Cisco said, “Team Arrow is here and finds Cold here…”

 “Arrow is here?” Barry whispered, turning his head slightly to Cisco.

 “You’ve been out for four days, brightspark,” Mighty Mouse explained, “you got a curse meant for me, trapped you in the realm of nightmares until your beloved kissed you awake.  They are just here to help, sadly, everyone is in a bit of a denial about the reality of the situation.”

 “Everything is ok now, but they really have to go,” Cisco said.

 Barry just held on even tighter then pulled back.  “You are right, with Arrow and Joe they aren’t safe here.”

 “See…”

 “We have to go,” he looked Len in the eyes, “somewhere safe.”

 “What!  You cannot just go with him,” Cisco said, “you aren’t thinking clearly.”

 “Of course he isn’t,” Lisa said, “he was surprised that Len and I were even alive!  Whatever this curse was it was bad and he is just emotional.  Ok, more emotional than usual.”

 “I don’t want you getting caught in the middle because he cannot calm down,” Cisco said to Lisa and turned to Barry, “you have to stay here.  You are putting them in danger…”

 Before Cisco could finish that thought, Len pulled the cold gun and iced a section of the wall, the cold ray only centimeters from his face. “Lenny!” Lisa jumped up, “what are you…”

 “It’s ok, you aren’t putting us in danger,” Len held on, feeling the vibrations of energy from Barry attempting to access the speedforce.  Mighty Mouse slapped Cisco extremely hard on the back of the head, he was tempted to start almost liking her.  “Bloody hell, you wanker,” she muttered to Cisco, “he is traumatized!” 

 Before the argument could escalate, an alarm went throughout all of Star Labs, “No!  It’s happening,” Barry screamed, “no!”

 “Barry,” Cisco blinked twice, finally realizing exactly what is going on and that Barry wasn’t magically back to normal once the curse was lifted, “Stay with him, Cold, I will find out what is going on…” Cisco’s cellphone went off, he grabbed it and paled, “… the Rogues are attacking Star Labs.”

 “What?” Lisa, Len and Might Mouse all said almost in unison.

 “You didn’t know about this?” Cisco asked, hopeful but not quite believing Len wasn’t up to this.

 “Of course not, cutie,” Lisa said, “they were supposed to have gone their own ways before we left.  That’s what took us so long to get here.”

 “Well they are here now, they have broken in and are heading toward us,” Cisco must have been looking at security feed.

 Barry kept moaning no and shaking violently, Len felt such rage he didn’t know where to focus his hatred to, so instead, he focused it on a goal: keeping Barry safe.  “You need to listen to me, Scarlet,” he whispered in Barry’s ear, the nickname seemed to calm him, “we need to get you to the cortex so you will be safe.”

 “I don’t care about me,” Barry whined.

 “But I do,” Len forced Barry to meet his eyes, “and when this is all over, we need to have a serious chat about what all this means, but right now I need to do this for me.”

 “We have to hurry, thank god Walker has the attention span of a peanut and Mardon has a negative sense of direction,” Cisco sighed, he offered his hand to Lisa, “we have to go.”

 Barry trembled, Len could see him trying to pull himself together, “Scarlet, what do you need?” Len asked and felt Barry’s lip soft against his.  It was a chaste kiss but it grounded both of them.  “All I have ever needed was you,” Barry whispered against his lips, “the beautiful, maddening brilliant thief, you stole my heart without me even realizing it until it was too late.”

 Dammit Barry! Now was not the time for this.  A loud bang, caused Barry to almost fall off Len’s lap, but both men stood up, Len released Barry, his hand slipping into Barry’s, not wanting to cut off all contact suddenly.  “Move. Now!” Len ordered.  Cisco and Mighty Mouse went into the hallway first, Cisco made sure to keep Lisa behind him although the likelihood of the Rogues attacking Lisa was slight, unless they had a death wish.  Ok, maybe Cisco wouldn’t be the worst boyfriend his sister ever had.

The moved quickly, Barry still a bit unsure on his feet.  They made it to the Cortex and heard raised voices.  It appears Team Arrow had not arrived yet, leaving Caitlin, West, and Iris to contend with the Rogues.  He heard West’s voice so Mardon hadn’t killed him yet, thank God for small miracles.  “Watch him,” Len ordered as he handed Barry over to Mighty Mouse and stepped into the Cortex doorway, Cisco sliding past him.  The Rogues in a battle stance, but Roy left his glasses on which was odd, but it an uncomfortable standoff with Team Flash.  “What’s going on?” Cisco asked.

 West turned and his eyes narrowed when he saw Len, “What is that bastard doing here? You better not have touched my son or I will shoot…”

 A blur then Barry was in front of Len, becoming a sort of human shield.  “Tossers… Team Flash is nothing but a bunch of lily livered tossers,” Mighty Mouse groaned.

 “I said to watch him!” Len growled.

 “You try holding on to a speedster that doesn’t want to held back!” she snapped at him.

 “You are awake!” Caitlin said, “what happened?”

 “Take an educated guess,” Lisa said.

 “Snart’s sister is here to, just great,” Joe groaned.

 “The alarm will alert Team Arrow, who will be on their way here.  Unlike us, they do kill people,” Iris said.

 Barry whimpered “Stop talking about killing,” Cisco said, “no talk of death, torture or maiming.  Rainbows, kittens and unicorns only and that goes you to, Rogues!”

 “Couldn’t the unicorn’s horn…”

 “Shut it, Roy!” Len barked and Raider immediately shut his mouth.

 “Is that Flash?  He’s hot,” Axel said, which earned him a glare from Hartley, “not as amazing, super sexy or smart as Hartley though!”

 “You are still sleeping on the couch tonight,” Hartley said coolly.

 “Hartley and Walker?” Cisco asked, “actually it makes sense.”

 “Glad it makes sense to someone,” Mick said.

 “What is happening here?” Caitlin asked.

 “Team Arrow is less than 5 minutes away,” Iris said, “you Rogues better leave.”

 “All the Rogues are here,” Barry said, “Axel? Hartley? Mardon? Shawna? Bivolo?  Mick? You are all ok?”

 The Rogues looked at each other a moment, in a bit of confusion.  They seemed genuinely surprised that Flash cared if they were ok, and why he thought they wouldn’t have been ok.  The either nodded or made an affirmative noise.  “Everyone is safe, Scarlet,” Len said.

 “What is wrong with you?” Iris asked, “why do you care if the Rogues are ok?  They are attacking us.”

 “If we were attacking, you would be in a whole world of pain right now,” Mardon said, “that I can promise.”

 “Then what are you doing here?” Len asked.

 “They aren’t with you?” Joe asked.

 “I am glad you all are ok,” Barry said.

 “I am glad you are ok to!” Axel said, “it would be boring in Central without ya!”

 “This conversation has just gotten too weird for me,” Roy said as he started to cough.  Soon all the Rogues were coughing, Axel grabbing on to Hartley and dragging him behind him and giving him one of his emergency inhaler, the smell of burnt sage filled the room, causing Caitlin, Iris, and Joe to cough before it began to effect Len, Barry, Cisco, and Lisa.  Len immediately puts Barry behind him for his safety.  “Your archery friends are passed out in the lobby,” a deep gruff voice in a thick Scotch accent pushed his way into the room.  He was 6’ tall, long, thick black hair in dreadlocks, a short beard with piercing dark brown almost black eyes.  He was wearing a black leather jacket, charcoal sweater, and his black pleated kilt, knee high gray socks and black boots.  He had the air of a wild man, almost wolf like in his energy.

 “What… did he say?” Caitlin asked.

 “Liam!” Mighty Mouse squealed.

 “This is your brother?” Joe asked.

 “Yep!”

 Len felt like he couldn’t catch his breath, he felt lightheaded as if he was going to pass out.  This Liam kept talking, but Len couldn’t understand what he was saying.  Mighty Mouse seemed unaffected by the smoke.  He saw the guy look over his shoulder at Barry, giving him an apprising look, with more than a little bit of lust that made Len’s blood run cold in his veins.  If he could only focus he could ice that bastard!  “Mine,” Len choked out and Liam cocked his side and laughed, “Yours. Shame though.”

 Liam grabbed his sister’s hand and dragged Mighty Mouse out of the room, as soon as they left the air seemed to clear.  Mardon leaned against the wall and as soon as he could focus he moved his hands, moving the smoke out of the room and into the air vents.  Len shook his head and reached for Barry, holding him close, his eyes were closed but was not trembling.  Len feared that this episode who cause him to freak out, but the smoke seemed to have some sort of sedative effect on the speedster and this was the calmest he had seen Barry since he arrived.  After making sure Barry was ok, Len looked at Lisa, who nodded and cradling Cisco close, he appeared to be passed out.  Hartley was crying, Len stood slowly, holding Barry to him and saw Axel passed out in Hartley’s arms.  He would have thought Walker was dead, himself, except the slight rise and fall of his chest.  It was downright bizarre to see him so still.  “He is all right, Hartley,” Mardon said, “let him get some fresh air.”

 Team Flash seemed to be out like a light, but the Rogues were dazed but for the most part awake.  Why would that Liam guy have knocked them and Team Arrow out but left the Rogues ok?  “You better go,” Barry said sadly, looking at Len, “before everyone else wakes up.  I am sure they will find some way to blame this on you.”

 “Are you going to be ok if I leave?”

 “I will be ok,” Barry said, “I am sorry about all this.”

 "Not your fault, Flash,” Len said, holstering the cold gun.  Mick shook his head violently to clear it and picked up Axel, the other Rogues seemed to be ok now.

“Who was that guy?” Roy asked, “and what was that?”

“Later,” Len said, grabbing his sister’s arm and pulling her away from Cisco.  Barry took over looking after him with a weak smile. Every step Len took, his feet felt like they were made of lead.  What if that Liam guy came back for Barry?  No, Len had this weird certain feeling that he would never see either Mighty Mouse or her brother again.  Barry was safe now so he needed to get the Rogues to safety. 

 

The Rogues decided to crash at Safehouse 23, not that Len had 22 other safe houses but it was on 23rd Street.  Axel still had not woken up, but his pulse was normal for a sleeping person.  Axel also had been having issues sleeping, nightmares caused him to not sleep well even when he was able to fall asleep.  This might be his body just taking advantage of his relaxed body and mind.  The other Rogues were also tired so they turned what was supposed to be the dining room into a makeshift bedroom with 7 air mattresses.  Hartley normally took the couch because of his breathing issues, but he was not letting Axel out of his sight.  They passed for a straight away, all except Len.  He shouldn’t have left Barry at Star Labs, he should have brought him back here where it was safe.  God only knows how West and the others were going to react to Len being the one to break the curse and what that meant. What if they ganged up on him and were mean to him? He was so fragile right now.  Len stood up, deciding to go back to Star Labs, but felt woozy, unbalanced and fell back on the mattress.  He closed his eyes, trying to focus his energy, fighting the urge to sleep, but he quickly lost that battle.

  

They all woke up about the same time, Len knew it was about 6 AM, they had been out for almost 12 hours.  Hartley bolted up right, “Axel?  Where the hell is Axel?”  He panicked, pawing at the empty mattress, looking around for any sign of him. The other Rogues, still dazed from sleep, looked around but there was no Axel to be found.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Axel's location is revealed (Hartley needs to microchip him, I swear!) and Len comes to terms with his feelings for Barry, in his own way.

The Rogues woke up about the same time, Len knew it was about 6 AM, they had been out for almost 12 hours.  Hartley bolted up right, “Axel?  Where the hell is Axel?”  He panicked, pawing at the empty mattress, looking around for any sign of him. The other Rogues, still dazed from sleep, looked around but there was no Axel to be found.

 

Suddenly the scent of bacon and pancakes filled the air and the Rogues’ stomach growled.  Axel peeked his head out of the kitchen, “About time you guys woke up.”

 

“You should have woken me up!” Hartley said, “you scared me to death.”

 

“I tried but you all were dead to the world.  Even Cold.  Breakfast will be ready in a bit, I will get a pot of coffee on.”

 

One of the Rogues greatest secrets is that Axel made the best coffee in the entire world, Mardon even claimed it was the reason he hadn’t killed the youngest Rogue yet.  “What happened back at Star Labs, Snart?” Mardon asked, wrapping an arm around Shawna, keeping her close.

 

“What the hell were you all thinking showing up there?” Lisa asked, “we had the situation under control.”

 

“I have ‘influenced’ quite a few people,” Roy said, “and I have never heard anyone make those sounds the Flash did in that video, nor seen anyone look that absolutely terrified for people that are supposed to be their enemy.”

 

“He did look actually concerned about us,” Shawna said, “which was just weird.”

 

“Gonna mention he is good looking again, Axel?” Hartley snapped at Axel.

 

“I would prefer not to spend the rest of my life on the couch, or an ice sculpture in Cold’s freezer,” Axel said, “I was just surprised about his appearance. The cowl makes him look very plain.”

 

“Enough,” Len said, “Flash was under a curse that was supposed to have hit another person.  Trapped them in their worst nightmares until it was broken, I was able to break it.  Flash told me that he had seen not only Team Flash and Arrow, slaughtered in sick and twisted ways unable to save them but all of us as well.”

 

“He was genuinely surprised that Len and I were even alive,” Lisa said, “took him a few minutes to snap out of it.”

 

“Who was the Scottish guy and why did he help us escape? Kind of,” Shawna asked.

 

“That I am not sure of, but he is the brother of the woman that the curse was meant for, her family seems to have magical abilities.”

 

“Her brother, March, is a necromancer who seeming can bring people back from the dead,” Lisa explained.

 

“Oh no!” Axel said, “Necromancers don’t ‘bring people back from the dead’ the turn them into undead minions, sometimes soulless sometimes not!  They are nasty.”

 

“And how do you know that?” Mardon asked.

 

“James and I had a little issue over in National City 18 months ago, in a little place called Necromancer’s Way. Do. Not. Recommend. It,” Axel came out with a full pot of coffee and everyone’s mugs, favorite sweeteners and coffee creamers.  The tray was almost comically over full but Axel had no issue getting it to the dining room table.

 

“No more going anywhere with James Jessie,” Shawna said, and the other Rogues agreed wholeheartedly with her.  “Axel and I already had this talk,” Hartley said.

 

“Yes dear,” Axel kissed Hartley on the cheek before going back into the kitchen.

 

The Rogues got up slowly and took turns preparing their coffee.  The pot was empty by the time they were done, Axel came out and took the pot back to the kitchen, probably to make another pot.  “So Flash was really that upset that something could have happened to us?” Roy asked, “I mean he locked us up in that pipeline hell hole without recourse for months.”

 

“I wonder how much of that was his idea and how much of it was that Reverse-Flash guy’s influence on him,” Lisa wondered out loud.

 

“Who?” Mardon asked.

 

“How do you know about that?  I barely know anything about the guy,” Len admitted, wincing slightly after he caught himself admitting that out loud.

 

“I have connections in at Star Labs, he likes to talk after he has a nightmare,” she rolled her eyes.

 

“Just admit you are dating, Cisco,” Hartley said, “you really aren’t fooling anyone.”

 

“You really aren’t, sorry Lisa,” Shawna said.

 

Lisa folded her arms and pouted, “Shut up all of you.”

 

“So now what?” Roy asked, “Are we all supposed to pretend everything is ok between us now?”

 

“That’s never going to happen,” Mardon said.

 

Len took a long sip from his mug and sighed, “No one ever said anything about that.  So why did you all show up anyway?”

 

“Curious,” Mardon said, “that’s all.”  The other Rogues agreed with him, except Axel who was suspiciously quiet in the kitchen only to appear a few moments later with another tray (where was he getting all these huge trays from?) packed with bacon, sausage, chocolate peanut butter French toast, chocolate chip pancakes, blueberry pancakes and buckwheat pancakes with blueberry, strawberry and blackberry compote on the top (Hartley’s favorite).  “How long have you been awake?” Shawna asked.

 

“Since 4 or 4:30 something like that,” Axel shrugged, “eat up.  The coffee is almost done.”

 

The Rogues piled up their plates and went back to sitting on their mattresses. Len really wasn’t all that hungry, he was wondering how Barry was holding up.  “Where did you get all this food, Axel?” Mick asked.

 

“Tricksters don’t reveal all their secrets,” Axel said, “and there is a supermarket open all night a few blocks up the street.  I can function like a normal human being when the situation arises, you know.”

 

“Why aren’t you eating?” Hartley asked, going back for seconds, threatening Roy when he got close to his buckwheat pancakes.  Axel brought out the fresh pot of coffee and sat it on a stone coaster.

 

“Ate already, I was hungry,” Axel did grab a few pieces of bacon off the plate before sitting down next to Hartley, his coffee cup in hand.  He laid his head down on Hartley’s shoulder, sighing happily, “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve all this.”  Hartley blushed bright red and rested his cheek on the top of Axel’s head.  “Oh, Cold, when I went upstairs to take a shower I noticed there was a crack in the glass in the master bedroom.  Looks like a bird might have hit it.  Might want to take a look at it, it didn’t trigger any of the alarms though.”

 

“How did you have time to do all this in 2 hours?” Shawna asked.

 

“Time management and an almost empty supermarket,” Axel said, “now stop asking me questions and eat or I won’t cook for you again!”

 

Len finished his plate, walked into the kitchen and put it in the dishwasher.  That cracked glass worried him so he made his way up the stairs and was surprised to find the door to the master bedroom slightly ajar.  He opened it carefully, half expecting a prank since Axel had been so well behaved making them breakfast.  Instead laying in the middle of his bed was Barry Allen sound asleep.  So that’s how Axel pulled it off!  The knot in his stomach that had been there since he left Barry slowly melted away, there was no cracked glass anywhere in the room.  He would have to make sure Axel got some extra to his cut on their next heist, although god knows why he was helping Barry.  Barry opened his eyes, blinked a few times and smiled when he saw Len.  “What time it is?” he asked softly.

 

“Shhhh,” Len shut the bedroom door, “the others are awake downstairs.  What are you doing here?”

 

“It didn’t go so well when the others woke up,” Barry looked down, “Cisco’s in trouble to because of Lisa.  I couldn’t go home, and I wanted to see you.  Make sure you were still ok.  The irrational fear is getting better, it may take a few days to totally wear off.”

 

“Snow said that?”

 

“No, Liam did,” Barry said and Len saw red, “Lillian called my cell phone and I spoke with Liam over the phone.  He was afraid for his sister with the situation with Team Arrow, Flash and the Rogues.  She is the baby of the family.  I need to take it easy for the next few days, try not to do anything emotionally taxing and get plenty of rest.”

 

“West throw you out?” Len asked as he sat on the bed and took Barry’s hand.

 

“Not in so many words, but I am not allowed to date you while I live under his roof.  And I would like to.  Date you.”

 

“Not sure this is a good idea, Scarlet, there is probably a rule that superheroes and not supposed to date their archenemies.”

 

“You stopped being my archenemy a long time ago,” Barry squeezed his hand, “more like my favorite adversary.”

 

Len shook his head, he wasn’t going to win this argument and he wasn’t sure he wanted to.  He leaned down and kissed Barry softly on the lips, he felt a spark of panic run up Barry’s body.  “It’s ok,” Len said, “we aren’t going to do anything you don’t want to.  In fact, if we just sleep for a few more hours that would be fine with me.  I didn’t sleep well for some reason and you are in my bed.”

 

Len stripped off his jeans, boots, and socks, leaving his black boxer-briefs on and his long sleeve t-shirt.  He didn’t want Barry to see his scars, not yet, he didn’t want to risk triggering him.  He slid into bed next to him and Barry cuddled close, his ear resting over the other man’s heart.  “I know it won’t be perfect and there will be a lot of compromises,” Barry said, “but I would rather fight with you than pretend to be happy with anyone else.”

 

“Too many feelings and not enough sleeping,” Len said gruffly, ignoring the warm feeling in his chest as he watched Barry drift back off to sleep in his arms, right where he belonged.  They never did figure out who created the curse, nor figure out it was Fae-magic, but what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this. I hope you enjoyed it. I was hoping to make this chapter more smutty, but I was not expecting Barry to end up being so traumatized after the curse ended.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter, I hope you liked it. Kudos and comments keep me going. This story updates every Monday. I hope to see you then. Want more of my Coldflash crazy and sneak peeks into stories I am working on then check me out on tumblr at bluewomanruins.


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